69 Heater Channel Repair

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oldschool71
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69 Heater Channel Repair

Post by oldschool71 » 8th November 2009 - 8:28pm

Hi,

Bought my first Type 3 about 3 months ago and have just started to repair the Heater channels and inner wings. thought the pictures could help others.

Heres the car, have removed the wing, door, inner channel, outer sill and web. The only bit of metal i found was the heater tube itself.

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I visited my local fabricator with some measurments and a sample and had two lengths of inner heater channels made up.

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And here i've welded in the heater vent repair panel, sourced from Type 3 Detectives.

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Added the heater flap hinge and a heater deflector

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Also the top and bottoms of the wings on each side were considerably corroded

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I made some repair sections for the near-side which fitted pretty well.

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I started on the near-side heater channel and inner wing a few weeks ago but was to enthusiastic to take any pictures of the during. So heres the after.


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Hopefully with have it back on the road by christmas.

Cheers for looking,


Andy

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purplepeter
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Post by purplepeter » 8th November 2009 - 10:39pm

Have you finished welding up the sills??
Where did you get the outers??
looking nice by the way!

oldschool71
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Post by oldschool71 » 9th November 2009 - 10:13am

hi the near-side is all welded in, primered and seam sealed but the off-side is as it is in the pictures. i only took them yesterday.

The outer sills were bought off the shelf from type 3 Detectives. I opted for the shorter outers instead of the whole length as under the rear fenders its very clean.



Andy

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FASTY72
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Post by FASTY72 » 11th November 2009 - 11:03pm

Love the pics it is very helpful to see how others have done things as I am just starting similar jobs on my 72 Fastback.
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Only removed the wings and doors so far but will be moving it to a workshop to get stuck in to cutting welding and spraying. keep the pics coming 8)
Hi My name is Paul...................... Fasty back together again !!!!!!!!!!

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kyle
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Post by kyle » 12th November 2009 - 12:38am

type72 "I WANT YOUR SEATS!!!!!!!!" :D
67 fastback
65 bug
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!!

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FASTY72
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Post by FASTY72 » 16th November 2009 - 8:43pm

So do I :lol:
Old seats recovered with TMI covers !
Any more pics of the work yet.
Hi My name is Paul...................... Fasty back together again !!!!!!!!!!

t3jaspacee
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Post by t3jaspacee » 28th November 2009 - 12:16am

I have to do exactly the same jobs on my squareback after xmas and your pics are definately helpful,thanks :D

oldschool71
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Post by oldschool71 » 11th March 2010 - 4:53pm

Right well the ice has finally melted from the workshop so I have continued working on the off-side sill/heater channel.

Yesterday i installed the inner sill and strengthener and today i installed the outer sill.

I'm hoping to get the car done for the volksworld show but its approaching far far too quickly.....

I'm desperately seeking clean front wings for the Square. I've tried all the usual places i.e T3D, Karmann Konnection and south west splits....

I will upload some images of the sill tomorrow.


Cheers for looking,

Andy

oldschool71
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Post by oldschool71 » 12th March 2010 - 5:11pm

I have managed to get some pictures of some of the work done to the car.


I had the inner heater channel fabricated by a local firm as did i get the inner strengthener made. The inner strengthener was made by cutting one 1mm gauge mild steel tube in half, length was and then having the flanges tig welded on for a flusher finish. The outer sill was sourced from T3D.



I had previously repaired the floorpan edge with the repair corners from T3D and floor pan repair sections from a type 1. The inner heater channel section was cut to length with the heater outlet section welded in place. The inner section was seam welded to the origional section about an inch back from the seat belt mount. From there i installed the threaded plated to take the floorpan bolts. With this section in place i then drille dthe inner strengthener whith 6mm holes along its length so that i was able to plug weld it the the inner sill. At the rear section of the strengthener i seam welded it to the origional section. Now i prepared the out sill by drilling it for plug welds along both the top and bottom seams and cut it to fit. The origional outer sill left of te car was trimmed to allow a good fit.


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The outer sill was then clamped to the inner-sill/strengthener and plug welded into place, then seam welded at the rear and by the a-pillar.

I then installed the door to check for gaps and door allignment.


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Here are some pictures of the drivers side sill and a pillar repaired.


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Thanks for looking


Andy

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Editor
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Post by Editor » 12th March 2010 - 5:59pm

Are you a professional body-repair guy? Good looking work either way.
Dave.

oldschool71
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Post by oldschool71 » 12th March 2010 - 7:20pm

No not at all, just got a small welder and a ford apprenticeship under my belt!

Why you ask?

oldschool71
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Post by oldschool71 » 12th March 2010 - 9:32pm

I'm kind of rushing the square alittle bit to get it back on the road for the shows this year. I need the workshop room back to get my other project which has been ongoing for a number of years. Once the beetles finished il give the square equal attention.


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I have a nasty habbit of taking things apart and neglecting to put them back together!!!!


Thanks for the comments


Andy

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Post by Editor » 13th March 2010 - 1:01am

I've a Beetle with the floorpan separated. By the time I get back to it, it'll need new pans probably too. A workshop would be good - the garage is biggish at 20' x 12', but stuffed full.

I guess the Ford apprenticeship comes in handy! I learnt panel beating with a big hammer and a tree stump! An old Variant roof is a good source of malleable steel.
Dave.

oldschool71
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Post by oldschool71 » 15th March 2010 - 8:07pm

Been back in the workshop tonight so thought id add some progress pictures.

I was having issues joining the front edge of the inner heater channel and the front channel that i cut out. I tried several methods to try and recreate what the origional looks like but it proved a little to much. i ended up making a template which covered thearea as best i could.

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I then made this section out of 1mm mild steel and frabricated that to fit as best i could

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Thn to fill the void bewteen the heater channel and the forward sill i made another template to finish the area off.

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And then again i copied this onto 1mm mild steel and folded it to match the inner sill.

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And then this was welded into place

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It doesnt look a pretty as id like but once i have seam sealed the joins and painted it wont look too bad! I then quickly coated the bare metal in primer to save it from the moisture.


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Thanks for looking and if you have any advice or have a different way of doing things then please feel free to tell me.


Cheers

Andy

oldschool71
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Post by oldschool71 » 22nd March 2010 - 8:35pm

I had a test fit of the panel against the new heater channels yesterday. The wings are still in need of alot of TLC but i was checking the door gaps and fitment against the inner wing repairs.

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I had also primered the front scuttle panel and prepared it for topcoat.

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Heres the footwell repair primered and seam sealed again ready for topcoat.

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There is a small repair i overlooked on the front inner wing by the spare wheel well. This should be pretty simple to do so i'll tackle it tomorrow.

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I also finished preparing the front panel which had been in a small bump at some point. I had knocked the dent out as best i could and the skimmed it with a thin layer of body filler.


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And then the last thing i did this evening was applied a top-coat to the scuttle panel. I did the best i could to supress the dust but unfortunaly some small specks have stuck in the paint. I think i should be able to polish them out.

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Thanks for looking



Andy

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Post by ARCANE » 23rd March 2010 - 12:09pm

good on ya top work fella :D
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oldschool71
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Post by oldschool71 » 24th March 2010 - 4:00pm

This morning I removed the masking tape from the windscreen seal to have a closer look at the paint on the scuttle panel. The out come was pretty good. The only issue I have is that I should of gave it another coat, 2 coats and a good polish have left small areas looking a little thin. Ow well.

Here's the outcome

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I have also prepared the front bonnet. I used 600 grit wet and dry and gave the whole top a good rubbing back applying small amounts of filler into some deep stone chips. The original paint on the bonnet looked a good base for the new paint.

Here's the bonnet after the 600 grit wet and dry

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And here's the bonnet after a guide coat and a top coat. I didn't want to get too close to it with the camera to the fresh paint incase I dropped it!

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The paint finish isn't perfect but im expecting it to look reasonably after a 1200grit wet and dry and a light polish with some G3.


Thanks for looking



Andy

MATTT
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Re: 69 Heater Channel Repair

Post by MATTT » 12th April 2010 - 11:08pm

what type of primer and paint you using on that? as ive got to repaint the inner wings all round on mine too
ive used some 2k etch with a scotch charcoal mask and doing it outside but im looking for a healthier alternative rather than celly or the new water based stuff as you probably know i should be wearing a full suit and air fed face mask
thanks

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unclemoom
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Re: 69 Heater Channel Repair

Post by unclemoom » 14th April 2010 - 12:20pm

Great work you re doing there.
Die Schwarzen Schafe........

oldschool71
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Re: 69 Heater Channel Repair

Post by oldschool71 » 16th April 2010 - 5:36pm

Hi Matt i'm using cellulose paint. I didn't feel confident using 2k with the equipment i have. I am using an etching primer for he first coat then a couple of coats of barcoat primer and then followed by a standard cellulose primer. then around 4 coats of top coat with various different quantities of anti-blooming thinners.

To be honest it's been trial and error for me but the results have been good. I am not going to lacquer the final coat as i think it will show up the rest of the car so i'm leaving it at the cellulose top-coat.

cheers for the comments



Andy

oldschool71
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Re: 69 Heater Channel Repair

Post by oldschool71 » 10th May 2010 - 9:53pm

Been back down the workshop abit more now the weathers warming up.


I have been having a nightmare trying to source some rust free front wings. So far i have picked up a pair of early wings from Southampton but the near-side is the only usable one. I have stripped that wing back to bare metal, cut out the rust and repaired with new metal. Heres a few random images of how the cars looking now.

This is with primer

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I then dusted the wing down with some matt black and flatted the wing back


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Heres the section i removed from the bottom of the wing

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Hopefully i will be getting some color on it mid week.


Cheers for looking

Andy

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neatbeard
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Re: 69 Heater Channel Repair

Post by neatbeard » 11th May 2010 - 10:59am

Looking good fella.

Think I may be having to do this soon on mine so i'm checking here regularly for updates/info/inspiration.

Keep up the good work.
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oldschool71
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Re: 69 Heater Channel Repair

Post by oldschool71 » 18th September 2010 - 2:32pm

Feels like ages since i posted any form of update on here now.

I will get you upto date pretty rapidly. Since the last post I have managed to get both front wings into paint, prepared and painted the front valance, completed the inner-wings, sills and door posts along with top coat painted.

Firstly from 3 sets of front wings I managed to make 1 good pair. Again these wings still needed repairs to the top corner and lower corners down by the door bottom but they have come out nice. The wings needed plenty of primer and knocking back to get as many imperfections out as I could and that was followed by 3 layers of topcoat. The near-side wing was from an earlier model with the larger trim holes so these had to be welded up first and then re-drilled for the smaller clips.

Here are the front wings after primer, blocking back and topcoat.

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From there I have prepared and painted the front valance area along with the inner wings, door pillars and sills (sorry for lack of pictures). I also managed to get hold of a very good condition original front bumper which has been fitted with the over-riders. The reasons for the bonnet not being attached was due to a thinners spillage which means that i had to repaint it. this was drying at the time of taking these pictures.




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So jobs for Monday are to cut the bonnet topcoat back and polish it, refit the trim and then fit it. M.O.T is Tuesday and hopefully fingers crossed it will be finished....................Hopefully!!!

oldschool71
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Re: 69 Heater Channel Repair

Post by oldschool71 » 20th September 2010 - 2:38pm

Finished off the car today, Installed the bonnet after cutting it back and polishing it.


Just needs M.O.T and then its ready for next years season!!!






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Thanks for keeping up with the thread!


Andy aka Oldschool71

MATTT
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Re: 69 Heater Channel Repair

Post by MATTT » 23rd September 2010 - 9:24am

just checked back in and nice to see it finished :)
looks great,ive only managed to get the rear wing and door off on mine,new door fitted and repaired the damaged B post
still got the welding to start on,so no where near as much done as yours yet
I blame the rusty old Ami i bought 2 yrs ago !!
Ive decided to paint mine in cellulose too,did you paint the doors and rear wings off the car?

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